30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, August 10, 2012

Sayonara Salute #21: Kurt Suzuki

I saw it coming from a mile away. He's been struggling at the plate for the past three seasons and things weren't getting any better. And then it happened last Friday:

However... just because I wasn't surprised, doesn't mean I'm okay with it. The fact is... Kurt Suzuki has been my favorite baseball player for years and anytime your favorite team trades your favorite player... it hurts.

But it's part of being a fan. I've been in this same situation before:

December 5th, 1984 - The Oakland A's trade Rickey Henderson to the New York Yankees.

August 7th, 2008 - The Green Bay Packers trade Brett Favre to the New York Jets.

June 24th, 2011 - The San Jose Sharks trade Devin Setoguchi to the Minnesota Wild.

And I'm sure it's going to happen again. So as I begin the healing process, I just wanted to salute Mr. Suzuki and thank him for the contributions he has made to the Oakland Athletics franchise.

There's no doubt in my mind that his leadership and defensive skills behind the plate will be missed. On the bright side... at least he'll have more opportunities to play with the Washington Nationals.

And for those of you who are wondering...

Yes... he's still my favorite player. And, yes... I'm still going to collect his cardboard... well at least the ones where he's pictured as an Athletic.

Sayonara Kurt! Best of luck in Washington. Hopefully you'll be able to turn things around offensively on the East Coast... but always know you'll be missed on the other side of the country.What about you?

Have you ever been in my position, where you favorite player on your favorite team was traded? Did it affect the way you collect him/her?

It's funny you mention the Selanne trade. I met Selanne at one of the Duck's Casino Nights and he was a jerk. So when I heard that SJ traded Jeff Friesen (my favorite player at the time) to get him, I was PO (even though we were getting a future HOFer).

McGwire was my favorite even before he got to the Cardinals, and I don't think I've had a favorite current player since then. Mostly because I know anyone we have is potentially transitory, even Pujols who came up through the minors, played 11 great seasons, and left when we wouldn't pay what he probably had earned. But, I sort of look on the bright side of this and like to collect cards of anyone who's ever been a Cardinal, no matter the uniform pictured. So I'll gladly take an A's McGwire, an Angels Pujols, or a card of Octavio Dotel's in any of his other dozen uniforms.

Nomar to the Cubs. Antoine Walker to the Mavs. Drew Bledsoe to the Bills. Ray Bourque to the Avalanche. The cards of them in their new teams don't exist in my eyes. I still collect their Boston stuff, though.

Mike Piazza. This trade made me hate the business side of baseball. To this day, I am so skeptical of any move a rich man makes since that awful day Piazza was sent to Florida and the sent to the Mets.

I feel your pain. It's one of my driving reasons for disliking the Yankees. In baseball, it's hard for teams like the A's and Padres (both of my favorites) when their management is willing to pay for big names... or at least keep the big names they developed in their farm system.

However... at least it hasn't turned into the NBA. I can't even watch that sport anymore.

Penny Hardaway to the Suns. It was the never the same for me after that. I tried rooting for the Suns but I couldn't do it like I did with Orlando. Didn't help that Penny spent the rest of his career dealing with Injuries. Also Emmitt as a Cardinal was tough to swallow.

Of these Betances & Culver are the ones that worry me on a daily basis. They're still prospects with relatively high ceilings that could be traded away at any given moment (we are dealing with the Yankees after all). Luckily (or unluckily) Betances has been struggling with his command lately and Culver's interest meter is low compared to the other Yankees position player prospects like Gary Sanchez, Melky Mesa, Dante Bichette & Mason Williams to name a few.

And while I said that I've never had any of my favorite players from my favorite team traded, I have witnessed some of my favorite players from other teams traded which did leave me in a state of shock. Such as:*Hunter Pence (it's not too often when the face of the franchise get traded)*Ichiro Suzuki (or is it?)

As for how I collect their cards after the player's been traded. I'm interested in seeing them in their new uniform for their first card as a member of their new team and that card goes in the PC while the cards after go to storage. Seeing Pence in a Phillies uniform last year was pretty interesting and seeing Ichiro in a Yankees uniform on cardboard later this year will definately be interesting. Although I wish they would've traded him when he was 28 and not 38 when it looked like he was going out as a life-long Mariner.

I'm glad you haven't experienced the "trade" yet. As for the Ichiro situation... that really disappointed me that he wanted to go to New York. I understand that financial aspect for the Mariners and the opportunity for a ring on his part... but it still bugs me as an Ichiro fan.

Hopefully I never will. Although I will be biting my nails in 2013 if the Yankees and Cano can't come up with an agreement (curse that salary cap!).I see how you feel about the Ichiro trade but who wouldn't want a chance to get a WS ring? The Mariners won't be involved with the playoffs anytime soon and Seattle was pretty much fed up with Ichiro blocking it's prospects from developing (although it looks like a majority of them have flopped) after realising that he couldn't hit 200 hits anymore.

Yeah... I understand why both sides pulled off the trade. I'm just one of those guys who loves seeing a guy stick with the same franchise his whole career: Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., and George Brett.

I even was pulling for the Yankees to resign Derek Jeter... and I can't stand the Yankees.

It happens all the time. If you are a true collector of the player because you LIKE THE PLAYER it shouldn't matter. The first time I recall getting this type of disappointment was way back in the 1970s when one of my TWO fave Quarterbacks from my fave TWO teams got traded to a team I didn't like. The Player Roman Gabriel traded from the L.A. Rams to the Philadelphia Eagles.

I can understand not collecting any new cards of a fave player when they get traded but what I can't understand are the "current players only" Team collectors who will trade away cards when players get traded away. It is almost like they are saying "I don't have any memories of you as a player goodbye".

In terms of collection, I believe people should be able to collect however they want. BUT... I totally understand your point.

In fact, I've taken advantage of people dumping their Greg Maddux cards when he was traded... as well as Brett Favre.

And if there's a bright side to the Kurt Suzuki situation... it's knowing that there's a finite # of A's cards that will be produced. I can now officially chase all of his autographs & memorabilia cards and know that there's an end to the project.

I lost my WHOLE FAVORITE TEAM on March 29, 1984 when the Baltimore Colts moved someplace else. I was a Baltimore Colt collector then and I am again but for a long time I avoided any and every Colt memorabilia. It was like a bad breakup. At first I was angry and couldn't stand the sight of them. Then as time went on I got past it to the point that I could actually root for them at times. I respected Dungy and Manning and Ii have a few Colt pieces from their post Baltimore days.

And besides, Johnny Unitas was traded to the Chargers. He was my hero, a guy who I prayed for in church every game day Sunday. That was when I really knew it was just a business.

When the Cubs traded Greg Maddux way back in the day, 7 year old me was so upset I quit being a Cubs fan and started rooting for the Braves. I started coming back to the Cubs by midseason, but it took that full season and half of the next to fully come to terms with it and start fully rooting for the Cubs with all my heart again.

As a huge Maddux fan & a closet Cubs fan (I root for them secretly when I'm not pulling for the A's or Padres), I could see why you were upset. I bet you were excited when Maddux returned to the Cubs later in his career.

About Me

I've been collecting cardboard off and on since the early 80's. I'm presently collecting. But who knows what the future holds in store for me.
One thing is for certain... I'll have my blog to help relive some of my favorite hobby moments.